Goggle Spirit Mask

This mask portrays tribute to the great box makers and artists who understood the eloquence of design. These artists had skills that allowed them to push the boundaries in understanding their art form to their audience. Such artists possessed the ability to create shape and form that allowed them to balance negative space. Artists faced some challenges in their work that concerned problem solving. My portrayal in the creation of this particular mask involves
the artist discovering a character known to some as a “Goggle” character a small shape and form also seen on boxes and blankets. The artists face is also shown with two eagles that assist him in his creation process.

Bill Kuhnley was born in 1967 in Seattle, Washington, and soon after the family relocated to the western shore of Vancouver Island. He is a member of the Ditidaht tribe of the Nuu-chah-nulth nation. He grew up surrounded by carving produced by his parents, William and Josephine Kuhnley. He began carving at the age of thirteen. He left school at sixteen to work in his parents cedar salvage business and spent the next seven years working in the bush. He began carving seriously in 1991 and was offered a position the same year with the Duncan Heritage Center in Duncan, B.C.